The 1st Cuirassier Regiment (french: 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers, 1er RC) was the oldest armoured regiment in the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
, until it was amalgamated with 11th Cuirassiers Regiment. Today its traditions are carried on by the 1st Cuirassier Squadrons Group of the 1st-11th Cuirassier Regiment.
History
Origins
The regiment was a part of a small army raised by
Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (german: Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War.
Biography
Born in Weimar within the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Joha ...
in 1631 to help
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
against the emperor during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
. The regiment fought together with the
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
and
Lützen
is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Geography
Lützen is situated in the Leipzig Bay, approximately southwest of the Leipzig city limits and northeast of Weißenfels. The town has access to the Bundesstraße 8 ...
. With the death of Gustavus Adolphus and the disaster at Nördlingen the army of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar entered French service on 26 October 1635. During this time the regiment was commanded by Colonel Trefsky and carried his name: ''Trefsky-Cavalerie'' (Trefsky Cavalry).
With Saxe-Weimer's army
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
began involving itself directly into the war, instead of only subsidizing the Swedes. The Trefsky regiment took part in the victories of Rheinfelden and
Breisach
Breisach (formerly Altbreisach; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach'') is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway b ...
, but with Bernard of Saxe-Weimer's death in the summer of 1639, the army loses its leader. Some of the Trefsky Cavalry and other regiments wished to return to Swedish service, but Guébriant, a future
Marshal of France
Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...
, persuaded the army, with the incentive of increased pensions, to remain permanently in French service.
At the time of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
the Trefsky Cavalry was the only regiment was the only French regiment still to be equipped with
cuirasses
A cuirass (; french: cuirasse, la, coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French '' cuir ...
. It had been renamed ''Colonel-General'' in 1657. In 1791 it was again renamed as the ''1er Régiment de Cavalerie''; in 1801 renamed ''1er Régiment de Cavalerie-Cuirassiers'' and in 1803 ''1er Régiment de Cuirassiers''. With the first Bourbon restauration in 1814 the regiment became ''Cuirassiers du Roi'', but it was restored to ''1er Régiment de Cuirassiers'' by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
during the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
. It was disbanded on 24 December 1815 at Loches after Napoleon's defeat. Re-raised in 1816 it was named ''Cuirassiers de la Reine'' (Queen's Cuirassiers).
The regiment was a part of the great cavalry charge in the
Battle of Eylau
The Battle of Eylau, or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoléon's ''Grande Armée'' and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Bennigs ...
.
Regimental war record during the revolution and empire
(Battles and Combats)
*1792: Jemappes, Anderlecht, and Tienen.
*1793:
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
Neerwinden
Neerwinden is a village in Belgium in the province of Flemish Brabant, a few miles southeast of Tienen. It is now part of the municipality of Landen.
The village gave its name to two great battles. The Battle of Neerwinden (1693), first battle w ...
, and Maubeuge.
*1794:
Mouscron
Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropoli ...
Roeselare
Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke.
The ...
, and the Capture of Mechelen.
*1796: Rivoli and Tagliamento.
*1799: Le Trebbia, La Secchia, Novi, and Genola.
*1800: Mozambano.
*1801: San-Massiano and Verone.
*1805:
Wertingen
Wertingen () is a town in the district of Dillingen in Bavaria, Germany. It is located along the river Zusam in 13 km east of Dillingen, and 28 km northwest of Augsburg. The city is the seat of the municipal association Wertingen.
S ...
,
Ulm
Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...
,
Hollabrunn
Hollabrunn () is a district capital town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, on the Göllersbach river. It is situated in the heart of the biggest wine region of Austria, the Weinviertel.
History
The surroundings of Hollabrunn were firs ...
, Raussnitz, and
Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to:
History
* Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte
Places
* Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...
.
*1806:
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
Ratisbonne
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
,
Essling
Essling Essling entry in the Viennese government's history wiki (German) () is part of , Battle of Wagram, Wagram, Hollabrunn, and
Znaim
Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian R ...
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
,
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...
Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube (, literally ''Bar on Aube'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of France.
Surrounded by hills and Champagne vineyards, the city is traversed by the river Aube, from which it derives ...
, Sezanne, and Valcourt.
*1815:
Ligny
Ligny ( wa, Lignè) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Sombreffe, located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
Previously its own municipality, a 1977 fusion of the Belgian municipalities made it an '' ancienne commune'' ...
,
Genappe
Genappe (; nl, Genepiën, ; wa, Djinape) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Genappe had a total population of 14,136. The total area is 89.57 km2 which gives a popula ...
When Louis XVIII returned to France again after the second abdication of Napoleon I, one of his first acts was to dissolve the entire French Army. The 1st Cuirassier Regiment was disbanded in Loches. According to General Susane its manpower went into the two new created Royal Guard cuirassier regiments and its depot was taken over by the 4th Cuirassier Regiment.
The Count of Béthune formed a new regiment on 27 September 1815. it was named the 1st Cuirassier Regiment or The Queen's Cuirassiers (French: ''Cuirassiers de la Reine''). The regiment was organized with four squadrons and received its new standard on 28 August 1816 from the Duchess of Angoulme, in Compiegne.
Between 1816 and 1828, the regiment was successively garrisoned in Dijon (1819), Toul (1823), Sedan (1824), Nancy (1825), Joigny (1826), Vendôme (1827) and Tours (1828). When the 1830 revolution against the Bourbon monarchy broke out, the regiment was sent to Angers to ensure the maintenance of law and order, but did not have to actively intervene.
July Monarchy
The end of Bourbon rule in France also meant changes for the French Army. The regiment received a new commander: Colonel Count Ordener, on 5 August 1830. Several officers, who had been retired on half-pay since 1815 because of their Napoleonic sympathies, were able to return to the regiment. The regiment also lost the name: "Cuirassiers de la Reine" becoming simply the 1st Cuirassier Regiment.
Between 1830 and 1848, the regiment was garrisoned in various cities: Vendôme, Meaux (1830), Versailles (1831) and then Lille. The 1st Cuirassiers left the latter garrison to take part in the short campaign in Belgium in support of Belgian independence. When the regiment returned to France it was garrisoned in Compiegne (1832), Nancy (1833–1836), Paris (1837), Haguenau (1838–1842) and finally in Vesoul from 1843 to 1848.
During the
French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...
, the regiment was sent first to Mantes, then to Paris, to ensure law and order.
Second Empire
Under the
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
the cuirassier regiments of the French Army entered a period of relative neglect. As slow-moving heavy cavalry they were poorly suited for overseas warfare in Algeria, Mexico and China. Accordingly, the 1st Cuirassiers remained in peacetime garrisons for most of this period, intended for use as shock troops in a future European war.
The regiment's opportunity for active service came in 1870 with the Franco-Prussian War. The 1st Cuirassiers, forming part of the 2nd Cavalry Reserve Division, took part in a major but very costly charge at the
Battle of Froeschwiller
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
on 1 August 1870.
Between the World Wars
The twelve French cuirassiers that had existed in 1914 were reduced to six in 1919. As a regiment which had remained horse mounted throughout the war, the 1st Cuirassiers had had little opportunity to distinguish itself on active service after the opening stages of the conflict. It was accordingly amongst the cuirassier regiments disbanded.Louis Delperier, page 72 ''Les Cuirassiers 1845-1918'', Argout-Editions, Paris 1981 The regiment was however recreated as a mechanised unit in 1940.
Croix de guerre 1914-1918
Croix (French for "cross") may refer to:
Belgium
* Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut
France
* Croix, Nord, in the Nord department
* Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...
with one palm and one star.
*
Croix de guerre 1939-1945
Croix (French for "cross") may refer to:
Belgium
* Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut
France
* Croix, Nord, in the Nord department
* Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...